IVR engagements and upfront background noise

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention pertain to reducing or eliminating speech recognition error when background noise is detected at a caller&#39;s location. For example, when background noise is detected at the caller&#39;s location, the caller may be prompted to use dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority frompatent application Ser. No. 15/369,342, titled IVR ENGAGEMENTS ANDUPFRONT BACKGROUND NOISE, filed Dec. 5, 2016 which is a continuation ofand claims priority from patent application Ser. No. 14/226,472, titledIVR ENGAGEMENTS AND UPFRONT BACKGROUND NOISE, filed Mar. 26, 2014, nowissued U.S. Pat. No. 9,516,165, the entire contents of each of which areenclosed by reference herein.

FIELD

The present invention relates to noise detection systems and, moreparticularly, to systems that detect background noise during a call.

BACKGROUND

Speech analysts frequently encounter upfront background noise thatcauses utterances to be grammatically incorrect. For example, if acustomer calls an interactive voice response (IVR) application,background noise at the customer's location may cause a delay inprocessing of the call by the IVR application. Thus, an application thatreduces or eliminates speech recognition errors due to background noisemay be beneficial.

SUMMARY

Certain embodiments of the present invention may provide solutions tothe problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fullyidentified, appreciated, or solved by current IVR applications. Forexample, embodiments of the present invention pertain to reducing oreliminating speech recognition errors when background noise at theuser's location occurs.

In one embodiment, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includesmemory including a set of instructions and at least one processor. Theset of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, areconfigured to cause the apparatus to detect background noise at alocation of a caller and prompt the caller to use dual-tonemulti-frequency (DTMF).

In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method is provided. Thecomputer-implemented method includes detecting background noise at alocation of a caller and prompting the caller to use DTMF.

In yet another embodiment, a computer program is provided. The computerprogram is embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thecomputer program is configured to cause at least one processor to detectbackground noise at a location of a caller and prompt the caller to useDTMF

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of certain embodiments of the inventionwill be readily understood, a more particular description of theinvention briefly described above will be rendered by reference tospecific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings.While it should be understood that these drawings depict only typicalembodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered tobe limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explainedwith additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is flow diagram illustrating a conventional process for detectingan error in speech recognition.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for detecting backgroundnoise during a call, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention pertain to reducing or eliminatingspeech recognition errors when background noise at the caller's locationis detected. For example, when background noise at a location of thecaller is detected, the caller may be prompted to use dual-tonemulti-frequency (DTMF).

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system 100, accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. Computing system 100includes a bus 105 or other communication mechanism configured tocommunicate information, and at least one processor 110, coupled to bus105, that is configured to process information. At least one processor110 can be any type of general or specific purpose processor. Computingsystem 100 also includes memory 120 configured to store information andinstructions to be executed by at least one processor 110. Memory 120can be comprised of any combination of random access memory (“RAM”),read only memory (“ROM”), static storage such as a magnetic or opticaldisk, or any other type of computer readable medium. Computing system100 also includes a communication device 115, such as a networkinterface card, configured to provide access to a network.

The computer readable medium may be any available media that can beaccessed by at least one processor 110. The computer readable medium mayinclude both volatile and nonvolatile medium, removable andnon-removable media, and communication media. The communication mediamay include computer readable instructions, data structures, programmodules, or other data and may include any information delivery media.

According to this embodiment, memory 120 stores software modules thatprovide functionality when executed by at least one processor 110. Themodules include an operating system 125 and a noise detection module130, as well as other functional modules 135. Operating system 125 mayprovide operating system functionality for computing system 100. Noisedetection module 130 may detect background noise at any time during thecall. Because computing system 100 may be part of a larger system,computing system 100 may include one or more additional functionalmodules 135 to include the additional functionality.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that a “system” could be embodiedas a personal computer, a server, a console, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a cell phone, a tablet computing device, or any othersuitable computing device, or combination of devices. Presenting theabove-described functions as being performed by a “system” is notintended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way, but isintended to provide one example of many embodiments of the presentinvention. Indeed, methods, systems and apparatuses disclosed herein maybe implemented in localized and distributed forms consistent withcomputing technology.

It should be noted that some of the system features described in thisspecification have been presented as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom verylarge scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelfsemiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discretecomponents. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardwaredevices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable arraylogic, programmable logic devices, graphics processing units, or thelike.

A module may also be at least partially implemented in software forexecution by various types of processors. An identified unit ofexecutable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions that may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified module need not be physically locatedtogether, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in differentlocations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module andachieve the stated purpose for the module. Further, modules may bestored on a computer-readable medium, which may be, for instance, a harddisk drive, flash device, random access memory (RAM), tape, or any othersuch medium used to store data.

Indeed, a module of executable code could be a single instruction, ormany instructions, and may even be distributed over several differentcode segments, among different programs, and across several memorydevices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustratedherein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form andorganized within any suitable type of data structure. The operationaldata may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed overdifferent locations including over different storage devices, and mayexist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system ornetwork.

FIG. 2 is flow diagram 200 illustrating a conventional process fordetecting an error in speech recognition. The conventional processbegins at 205 with an IVR system receiving a call from a caller. At 210,the IVR system plays a welcome message to the caller, and, at 215,prompts the caller using speech recognition. At 220, if the IVR systemdetects an error during speech recognition, the IVR system prompts thecaller to use DTMF at 225. If the IVR system does not detect an errorduring speech recognition at 220, then the IVR system continues with thevoice recognition flow at 230 to connect the caller to an appropriateagent.

The process illustrated in FIG. 2 may encounter a number of problems.For example, depending on the configuration of the IVR, numerous amountsof retries may be provided to the caller when the system cannotrecognize the utterance due to background noise at the caller'slocation. To overcome such problems, the process shown in FIG. 3 isutilized.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram 300 illustrating a process for detectingbackground noise during a call, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The process of FIG. 3 may be executed by, forexample, computing system 100 of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, thecomputing system at 305 receives a call from the caller and, at 310,starts to listen to background noise from a location of the caller priorto playing the welcome message to the caller.

At 315, the computing system plays a welcome message to the user. Incertain embodiments, the welcome message is played to the caller whenthe caller connects to the IVR system. At 320, the computing systemstops listening to the background noise at the location of the caller,and, at 325, determines whether the background noise is excessive. Forexample, the computing system may detect whether the location of thecaller contains a sufficient degree of background noise such thatsuccessful speech recognition is impossible. This may be measured, forexample, by a signal strength of the background noise, a number ofdecibels of the background noise, or any other noise analysis techniquethat would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

If the computing system detects excessive background noise, then at 340the caller is prompted to use DTMF to complete the call flow to connect,for example, to the agent. If the computing system does not detectexcessive background noise at 325, then at 330, the caller is promptedusing the speech recognition.

At 335, the computing system detects whether speech recognition errorhas occurred. If speech recognition error has occurred, then at 340, thecaller is prompted to use DTMF to complete the call flow to connect, forexample, to the agent. Otherwise, the call flow continues at 345 toconnect the user to, for example, the agent.

It should be appreciated that in certain embodiments, the backgroundnoise detection is activated throughout the call to ensure that thecaller is connected to the agent promptly. The embodiments discussedherein may reduce caller frustration and shorten the call length.Furthermore, by detecting noisy environments, a greater insight isprovided into how well speech recognition works in an ideal environmentand how often callers are not calling from an ideal environment.

The processes shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be performed, in part, by acomputer program, encoding instructions for a nonlinear adaptiveprocessor to cause at least the processes described in FIGS. 2 and 3 tobe performed by the apparatuses discussed herein. The computer programmay be embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium. Thecomputer readable medium may be, but is not limited to, a hard diskdrive, a flash device, a random access memory, a tape, or any other suchmedium used to store data. The computer program may include encodedinstructions for controlling the nonlinear adaptive processor toimplement the processes described in FIGS. 2 and 3, which may also bestored on the computer readable medium.

The computer program can be implemented in hardware, software, or ahybrid implementation. The computer program can be composed of modulesthat are in operative communication with one another, and which aredesigned to pass information or instructions to display. The computerprogram can be configured to operate on a general purpose computer, oran application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”).

It will be readily understood that the components of the invention, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.Thus, the detailed description of the embodiments is not intended tolimit the scope of the invention as claimed, but is merelyrepresentative of selected embodiments of the invention.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention describedthroughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. For example, the usage of “certainembodiments,” “some embodiments,” or other similar language, throughoutthis specification refers to the fact that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodimentmay be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus,appearances of the phrases “in certain embodiments,” “in someembodiments,” “in other embodiments,” or other similar language,throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the sameembodiment or group of embodiments, and the described features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments.

One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that theinvention as discussed above may be practiced with steps in a differentorder, and/or with hardware elements in configurations that aredifferent than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although theinvention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments, itwould be apparent to those of skill in the art that certainmodifications, variations, and alternative constructions would beapparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention, therefore,reference should be made to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: memory comprising a setof instructions; and at least one processor; wherein the set ofinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor, areconfigured to cause the apparatus to: listen to background noise from alocation of a call; in response to listening to the background noise:play a welcome message to a caller; discontinue listen to backgroundnoise from the location of the call; determine whether a sufficientdegree of background noise at the location of the call would make speechrecognition impossible based on decibels of the background noise; andprompt the caller to use dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) based on thedecibels of the background noise.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe set of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor,are configured to cause the apparatus to listen for the background noiseat the location of the caller.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein theset of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, areconfigured to cause the apparatus to listen for the background noise atthe location of the caller when a call is received.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the at leastone processor, are configured to cause the apparatus to instruct thecaller to use speech recognition during the call when the backgroundnoise is not excessive.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the set ofinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor, areconfigured to cause the apparatus to determine whether a speechrecognition error occurred during the call.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, are configured to cause the apparatus to instruct the callerto use the DTMF when a speech recognition error is detected during thecall.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the set of instructions, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, are configured to cause theapparatus to prompt the caller to use the DTMF when the decibels of thebackground noise are determined to be excessive.
 8. Acomputer-implemented method, comprising: listening to background noisefrom a location of a call; in response to listening to the backgroundnoise: playing a welcome message to a caller; discontinue listening tobackground noise from the location of the call; determining whether asufficient degree of background noise at the location of the callerwould make speech recognition impossible based on decibels of thebackground noise; and prompting, by the computing system, the use ofdual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) when the decibels of the backgroundnoise are excessive.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8,further comprising listening, by a computing system, for the backgroundnoise at the location.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,further comprising listening, by a computing system, for the backgroundnoise at the location when a call is received.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising instructinga caller, by the computing system, to use speech recognition during thecall when the background noise is not excessive.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising determining,by the computing system, whether a speech recognition error occurredduring the call.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10,further comprising instructing a caller, by the computing system, to usethe DTMF when a speech recognition error is detected during the call.14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprisinginstructing a caller, by the computing system, to use the DTMF when thesignal strength of the background noise is determined to be excessive.15. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, the computer program configured to cause at least one processorto: listen to background noise from a location of a call; in response tolistening to the background noise: play a welcome message to a caller;discontinue listen to background noise from the location of the call;determine whether a sufficient degree of background noise at thelocation of the call would make speech recognition impossible based ondecibels of the background noise; and prompt the caller to use dual-tonemulti-frequency (DTMF) when the decibels of the background noise areexcessive.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at leastone processor to listen for background noise at the location of thecaller.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at leastone processor to listen for background noise at the location of thecaller when a call is received.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 17, wherein the computer program is further configuredto cause the at least one processor to instruct the caller to use speechrecognition during the call when the background noise is not excessive.19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thecomputer program is further configured to cause the at least oneprocessor to determine whether speech recognition error occurred duringthe call.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the at leastone processor to instruct the caller to use the DTMF when a speechrecognition error is detected during the call.